The Interceptors: Anonymous (History of Margovya)
|noofepisodes = 10 |premiere = May 31, 2009 |finale = August 2, 2009 |writer = |director = , |broadcast = |previous = |next = }} The Interceptors: Anonymous is a ten-part Margovyan action police procedural serial and is the second season of . The main cast for the season includes , , , , , , , , and . In the series, the Interceptors are tasked with uncovering the identities of the hackers who attacked the Margovyan Ministry of Defense's Integrated National Security Network and to "render them harmless," meaning to neutralize the hackers' threat to Margovya's cyber-security. Anonymous was commissioned by the on October 2008. The season began filming on December 2008 and took place in Duyao. It premiered in Margovya on May 31, 2009, and concluded on August 2, 2009. Critical reactions to Anonymous was generally positive. Viewership averaged 8,000,000 for MNBN. Anonymous was released on DVD on September 12, 2010. Plot A cyber attack of unknown origin almost cripples the Margovyan Defense Ministry's networks, especially its newest and best network, the Integrated National Security Network, which is under the jurisdiction of the newly established National Defense Network Command. After the cyber attackers are repulsed, the Interceptors are asked to uncover the people responsible for the attack. Hacker Izmail Berovsky recognizes the codes used by the hackers to access the networks as the digital "fingerprint" of the Margovyan branch of the hacktivist group Anonymous. He arranges a secret meeting with one of the group's members, Mstislav Denchov, also known by the username Dencio_the_Master86, who denies that Margovya Anonymous was behind the attack, and reveals that a group of radical hackers had split off from the group to become cyber-terrorists. The Interceptors eventually locate the splinter group's headquarters in Duyao, and after an intense gunfight between the Interceptors and the cyber-terrorists, as well as Berovsky's efforts to stop the terrorists' attack on Margovya's surface-to-air missile control network, the cyber-terrorists are finally brought to justice. At the same time, the Interceptors learn that a small group of "nationalist terrorists" are planning a massive nuclear attack, with the intention of blowing up a nuclear device disguised as a tanker truck beside the Ikulsk Nuclear Tower. At first, the Interceptors appear to be just one step behind the terrorists, but finally, they intercept the truck carrying the nuke on the highway to Ikulsk, and with only seconds to spare, they manage to stop the driver of the truck from detonating the bomb. However, just before they could properly interrogate the driver, he is killed by a sniper, but they do manage to learn the name of the terrorist organization: the Army of the Spanish Culture. The Interceptors would go against this enemy in . Cast and characters Main cast * as , commander of the Interceptors. * as , de facto deputy commander of the Interceptors. * as Izmail Berovsky, the Interceptors' "resident combat hacker." * as , the Interceptors' "big-mouthed little girl." * as Ustin Balikrokov, the Interceptors' "racing junkie." * as Mateo Barraquiel, the Interceptors' "financier." * as Barbara Evangelista, the Interceptors' "sexy secretary." * as , the Interceptors' "muscle." * as Yelizaveta Glebova, the Interceptors' "voyeuristic gymnast." Supporting cast * as RBI Director Eva Soryanova (3 episodes) * as Mstislav Denchov, aka Dencio_the_Master86, a member of Margovya Anonymous, and Izmail's contact in the hacktivist group (6 episodes) * as Brigadier General Mikhail Harkov, commander of Margovya's National Defense Network Command (4 episodes) * as Yegor Danilov, the Integrated National Security Network technician. (5 episodes) * as Marivanna, the holographic interface of the INSN (3 episodes) * as the voice of Marivanna (4 episodes) * as Filip Kurtov, aka Philip_SayMore_Hoffman68, leader of Margovya Anonymous. (4 episodes) * as Yuri Kirillin, aka KennethNaylor15, leader of the Margovyan Cyber Army. ("Shooting Guy Fawkes in the Face") * as Terentiy Trofimov, aka PresidentKapocius1991 ("Shooting Guy Fawkes in the Face") * as Yefrem Zimmermann, aka Germanophil3_Yes ("Shooting Guy Fawkes in the Face") * as Andzhela Urbanduva, aka M1ss_Zer0_L0v3rzx ("Shooting Guy Fawkes in the Face") * as Faina Silverman, Director Soryanova's secretary (5 episodes) * as Artemio Elizalde (5 episodes) * as Master Sergeant Krikalev, the NDNC soldier who sets off the computer booby trap in "Technologist's Limit" Casting The nine main cast members of returns to reprise their roles in Anonymous. also returns as RBI Director Eva Soryanova. In July 2008 it was announced that was cast as Mstislav Denchov, a character that would play an important part in the upcoming series. Abramov described the character's role as "basically the guy that gets the Interceptors to solve the case." Abramov found that playing the character was "very fun and challenging in a good way." , Umalin's son, plays Filip Kurtov, the leader of Margovya Anonymous in the series. , grandson of the star , plays Yuri Kirillin, the series' main antagonist, although he is seen only in the second-to-the-last episode of the series, and even then he gets only a small amount of screen time. recurs as Artemio Elizalde, one of Mateo Barraquiel's employees, and makes her first television appearance after her marriage to actor-politician-singer as Faina Silverman, Director Soryanova's secretary, and an agent who wants to get involved in "the action" after serving as a "paper-pusher." This is the first time she used the name Miryam Farukova-Talnaeva for credits. Episodes Production Development The second season of the new Interceptors was commissioned by the on October 2008, three months after the unexpected success of . THE MNBN renewed the series for another ten-episode season on October 31, 2008. returns to write a majority of the episodes, in addition to his role of executive producer; while and returned to direct. directed the episodes "We Are Not Them..." and "...And They Are Not Us". directed "Technologist's Limit," while Orfanov himself directed "Compromised Defense." Cast members , , and helped Orfanov write the last three episodes of the series. Training Like the previous season, the cast was trained by current and former RBI agents. was allowed to do more stunt driving sequences for the series. spent at least six weeks training as her character was supposed to be a desk-bound agent about to get her first taste of action in the series. The cast members whose characters have police and RBI backgrounds, like Umalin, Chakulakov, and Talnaeva, were given more accurate training in RBI procedures to correct procedural errors spotted by fans and agent trainers in The Original Interceptors. Filming Filming took place in Duyao on December 2008. Exterior shots of Fort Zobelov in Morinho were used to depict the National Defense Network Command base, which does not exist in real life. The computer room holding the Integrated National Defense Network's CPUs was built inside the hangar in Gaganovskaya Aerodrome in Dostalinsky that neighbors the more well known hangar that is the site of the studio of the show . Five rows of CPUs were built, and more added to the shots by CGI, but only the first row is an actual working CPU; the rest were merely mockups with LEDs and fans simulating activity. For the nuke truck chase scene in the last episode, the production staff used the Juana Arbatskaya Memorial Interchange that connects Arbatskaya City to its southern suburbs to represent the Macclesfield Intersection in Ikulsk, blocked it off to traffic, and shot the chase scene there, with the appropriate Ikulsk skyline in the background added digitally in post-production. This forced the redirection of an estimated 970,000 motorists to the more circuituous National Route 77 into the city, causing heavy congestion that lasted for the four days that the Interchange was closed for filming. The cast was allowed to perform their own stunts, but this carried risks for them. During shooting of the raid gone wrong for "Technologist's Limit," the armorers loaded more powder into the explosion props that required, and the resulting fireball singed Umalin, Talnaeva, and Murov on the set when it was detonated. A few pieces of prop shrapnel also scratched Kubasov and del Quiev on their arms, which almost caused a delay in filming before they both decided to continue on after their wounds had been patched up. Glaser also suffered temporary blindness when firing a gun loaded with full flash blanks during the climactic battle in "Shooting Guy Fawkes in the Face", and Kubasov almost sprained his ankle after jumping over a car in "When All is Said and Done...". Criticism Anonymous received generally positive reviews from critics. called Anonymous "a darned good adventure that manages to combine Dzherik Dimakulanov's dark and gritty Interceptors with Yulian Markovsky's crazy, antic-filled Interceptors, and breathing into it a touch of the modern age." adds that "Anonymous brings me back to the good old days of the high-rolling Interceptors." received criticism from netizens, especially members and supporters of the real Margovya Anonymous, who felt that his portrayal of their group has put them in an evil light. They also criticized the climactic battle of the series, which depicted RBI agents and police officers shooting at gunmen wearing Guy Fawkes masks, the international symbol of Anonymous. Orfanov defended his show, stating that the masks were actually worn by cyber-terrorists who had split off from Margovya Anonymous. "I'm not trying to say that cyber activism is bad," he said during an interview at the Banananovich Comic-Con 2010. "Cyber-''terrorism'' is the bad guy. And sometimes bad people will use symbols not necessarily associated to evil and twist it to their flawed views." While not outright stated, Orfanov's statement drew comparisons with the usage of the swastika as a good luck symbol in the early 20th century before it became associated with Nazism during and after World War Two. Category:Margovya Category:Media (History of Margovya) Category:Television (Media, History of Margovya) Category:Media Category:The Interceptors (History of Margovya) Category:The Interceptors seasons (History of Margovya)